Remember the classic recipe for rabbit stew that begins “First, catch the rabbit”?

That’s our reaction to the recent war of projections between environmentalists and advocates of energy development about how much money Colorado can expect to receive as its share of federal mineral leasing revenues on the energy-rich Roan Plateau.

In our view, there are two vital actions Colorado should take before quibbling over the exact size of a future windfall:

First, we need a responsible plan to develop the 9,000-foot-high plateau in northwestern Colorado without undue damage.

Second, Colorado should funnel whatever leasing revenues are left after local needs are met into a trust fund to support higher education long after the energy resources themselves are depleted. Two Western Slope legislators, Sen. Josh Penry of Grand Junction and Rep. Al White of Winter Park, have proposed creating just such a permanent fund.

Earlier this year the federal Bureau of Land Management outlined rules that would open up about 52,000 acres on the scenic plateau for development. The BLM held more than five years of hearings before working with cooperating agencies, including the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, to develop the final plan. Among other restrictions, the plan would limit drilling operations to no more than 1 percent of the plateau’s surface land at any given time, as recommended by the state’s former natural resources director, Russ George. All land disturbed by such operations would have to be eventually reclaimed and restored.

Colorado’s new Democratic governor, Bill Ritter, then asked for 120 days to review the BLM plan. The request was denied except for a brief 24-day delay. In our view, Ritter’s request was reasonable – it probably takes more than 120 days just for the ink to dry on the Federal Register. But while Ritter should be allowed some input into the plan, we don’t believe there should be a permanent ban on drilling on the Roan – as would happen under an amendment that U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar of Colorado inserted last week into the Energy Independence Act.

If that amendment survives Senate action, it would essentially put the plateau, which contains about 4 percent of America’s known natural gas reserves, off limits to development, although some drilling would be allowed on the sides of the plateau as well as private land in the area.

It may well be that a desire to promote such a permanent ban on drilling inspired the recent “lowball” estimate by a consultant working for some statehouse Democrats that said the state can expect to collect just $5.8 million to $8.1 million in bonus payments from leases on the Roan. If only such trivial sums are at stake, after all, it’s politically easier to lock up the Roan’s resources.

In contrast, Penry and White, who are advocates of energy development, estimated leases on the Roan could give Colorado up to $1 billion. They also estimate the state could collect $100 million or more annually for the next 20 to 30 years in mineral royalties and state and local energy taxes.

Reality has a way of coming in somewhere between the hopes of pessimists and optimists alike. Energy industry analysts predict that the strict limits imposed by the BLM, including extensive use of more expensive but less intrusive horizontal drilling techniques, will reduce the amount that industry will bid for the leases.

But whatever the size of the revenue raised by drilling on the Roan and other federal lands in Colorado, Penry and White are absolutely correct that the state’s share of this coming windfall must not be frittered away but instead channeled into a trust fund for higher education that will provide a lasting benefit to Coloradans long after the gas is gone. Wyoming already benefits from such a permanent fund and Colorado should heed the wisdom of our northern neighbors.

Just months ago, Republicans got away with a massive upward redistribution of wealth, raiding $1.5 trillion from the Treasury and sticking future generations with the bill. Now, they're going for more.